The last few years have seen a resurgence in appreciation for Columbo, and if you’re looking to catch up with Peter Falk’s charming detective, a new Blu-ray collection is now up for preorder. Columbo: The Return stars Falk back in his signature role and trenchcoat, compiling all 24 episodes of the legendary run into one convenient collection. This Blu-ray box set will be released on July 16, and Amazon has it priced for $100. This price will likely come down before it’s officially released, and as a reminder, preordering through Amazon is free as you’ll only be charged once the item ships.
Oh, and just one more thing. If you’re looking for the original Columbo run, you can pick up the recently released Blu-ray collection of Seasons 1-7 at Walmart for $77. You’ll want to have both of these matching sets to get the whole Columbo experience.
If you’re unfamiliar with Columbo, the classic mystery show had a simple premise. While most shows in that genre were focused on unraveling the clues to determine who had committed a murder, Columbo showed you how the deed was done before the detective even appeared. The real treat was watching Columbo piece the clues together, wear down the suspects with his gentle demeanor, and find a crucial piece of evidence to connect them to the murder. Always polite and relentless in his pursuit of justice, Columbo was a huge departure from the rule-breaking detectives seen on film and TV.
Columbo’s first run on TV ended in 1978, but a little over a decade later, Peter Falk was chomping on cigars as the charming sleuth when the series returned in 1989. Older and wiser, these episodes were just as great, and included high production qualities, occasionally deviated from the usual Columbo formula, and saw him outwit really terrible people. Some of the standout episodes here see Columbo taking on arrogant magicians–not the first time!–a Hollywood movie director, and Williams Shatner as a homicidal radio DJ. Special features haven’t been announced yet for this Blu-ray collection, but all the episodes have been remastered in 1080p.
The Seasons 1-7 box set comes with an original series score and a booklet, although the audio commentary tracks for each episode which were previously announced for it were later cancelled for unexplained reasons.
